Bill O'Reilly Dismisses Drug Sentencing Reform As “Liberal Compassion For Criminals”

O'Reilly Blames Sentencing Reform For Rise In Violent Crime

From the October 7 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

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BILL O'REILLY: Mr. Obama and his first Attorney General Eric Holder believe there is a strong racial element in the American criminal justice system. They ignore the fact, however, that drug dealers have devastated poor neighborhoods and enslaved millions of minority Americans over the years. Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder also believe that selling drugs like crack, heroin and meth -- not a violent crime. Never mind that folks addicted to those drugs commit the majority of property crimes in America, as well as the majority of child abuse. Never mind that drug overdoses kill thousands of Americans every year. Never mind that drug gangs in places like Chicago and Miami are responsible for an incredible amount of violence, as you need guns to compete in the street drug trade.

So now, just in time for Halloween, the Justice Department is set to release 6,000 inmates from penitentiaries all across the U.S.A., many of them dope dealers. Also Congress is getting ready to change some mandatory sentencing, making it easier for pushers and other so-called nonviolent criminals to avoid paying the penalty they deserve. All of this liberal compassion for criminals is having an effect. Violent crime is rising quickly in many places, as more lenient sentencing and anti-police rhetoric kicks in. 

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Those are facts. But President Obama and the left have not acknowledged them. After the mass prison release this month, expect violent crime to rise even more. The drug trade is violent on its face, and everybody knows it. The myth that peddling hard drugs is a nonviolent act is dangerous irresponsible, and many of our leaders simply don't care.